Easiest way to calculate “basis in Roth IRA contributions” and “basis in Roth IRA conversions”
Hello All!
I am a salaried employee preparing my own 2023 taxes in my favorite tax software, FreeTaxUSA. I get to a menu screen that asks me to “Enter your basis in Roth IRA contributions” and then, in the subsequent box, to “If applicable, enter your basis in Roth IRA conversions.” I am trying to find if I can locate this information pre-filled for myself or if I somehow have to calculate it. I am feeling like an idiot and super frustrated since the numbers are starting to swim in my head. Could I pull the CONTRIBUTIONS BASIS from Line 14 of last year (2022)’s 8606?
In terms of the CONVERSIONS BASIS, I don’t even know where to start. Could I simply use the same amount I converted via the backdoor process last year ($6500, which is the max allowable)? I suppose I am confused because I withdrew $1355 (that had been an overcontribution back in 2019) that is also displayed on my 2023 1099-R with code J and am afraid this $1355 is messing up the math somewhere. Plugging in different numbers in the thousands of dollars seems to do nothing to change the tax I owe, so I am unclear on why this box even matters at the end of the day.
For context, I have been doing backdoor Roth IRAs for the past several years. In 2019, I accidentally overcontributed to my Roth IRA (https://www.irahelp.com/forum-post/71166-accidentally-requested-distribution-correct-overcontribution-wrong-year).
Thanks in advance for all of your wonderful help!
Permalink Submitted by David Mertz on Mon, 2024-02-05 01:18